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McConnell returns to the Senate after more than three months away following a fall
The Kentucky Republican resumed Senate work on Monday and cast his first vote since June. He said he is still recovering and will try to be present for key votes.
Mitch McConnell returned to the U.S. Senate on Monday after an absence of more than three months caused by a fall in June, NBC News reported. The Kentucky Republican cast his first vote since then, backing the procedural step to advance Matthew Byrne’s nomination as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio.
In a statement cited by NBC News, McConnell said his recovery had been long and frustrating and that it was complicated by lingering effects of childhood polio. He added that he is not fully back yet, but will continue physical therapy on his doctors’ advice and will do his best to be present when his conference needs him for difficult votes.
He had been away from the Senate since mid-June, when he fell at home and was briefly unconscious, as he later disclosed. NPR Politics noted that he spent weeks recovering before publicly explaining the incident, which led to hospitalization and a longer rehabilitation process.
Speaking to reporters, McConnell said it was time to get back to work and finish this Congress’s business, and he specifically mentioned the farm bill. According to NBC News, he did not take questions and appeared in a wheelchair.
NBC News also reported that the lengthy absence and his lack of media interviews fueled speculation and calls for proof that he remained fit to serve in Congress or else resign. In July, McConnell said he had hesitated to disclose the reason for his absence because of the vulnerability that comes with aging.
The outlet added that Republicans hold a narrow 12-11 majority on the Senate Agriculture Committee, making McConnell’s presence potentially important for moving bills to the full Senate on party-line votes. McConnell, 84, is retiring at the end of the year.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
